Vengeful Return: An Old Threat Awakens
by Lumix19
Summary: Did Gol and Maia really perish in the dark eco silos? Takes place after TLF.
1. Vengeful Return: Prologue

Vengeful Return – Chapter 1: Prologue

The dark eco swirled, eternal, mysterious, the source of unparalleled power. The moment the dark eco had touched the machinery, it had begun to eat away at it, bit by bit, atom by atom. But the powerful, almighty Precursors had designed their technology well. The dark eco was uncontrollable even for them, so to protect themselves; their technology was specially built to withstand the burn of the eco.

Both siblings were trapped deep beneath the ground sinking slowly ever further into the depths of the planet. Their powers were useless they could not reach the lid of the silos without travelling through the dark eco and they had no way of moving the precursor robot head. Even if they found their way to the lid it would take the might of a precursor robot to open it and the boy had astoundingly destroyed their precious robot.

They continued sinking down into the abyss finally reaching the bottom of the silos. Gol examined his surroundings with bitterness and stared out into the dark eco. That which had given him and his sister power, now both frightened and kept him spellbound. An exponential power, so much it would take a god to control it. He shook his head to rid him of his thoughts. He needed a way out but even he was beginning to lose his demeanour as panic overtook him. Maia was slumped on the floor emotions spilling everywhere. Anger, terror, shock, panic swirled inside her and they were displayed clearly on her face but perhaps most prominent was the terror of the situation and an uncontrollable rage at her helplessness.

Maia spoke her voice cracked with emotion "How could this happen? After months of planning..." her rage was so much now it made her unable to speak.

Gol raspy voice broke in to the silence "That little brat got the best of us. How..." He began to pace up and down the limited space "Light eco is impossible! But the powers of the four ecos must have created the light eco. Its destructive power rivals even dark eco."

"What does it matter anymore anyway?" said Maia she had lost her anger and was now consumed by the hopelessness of the situation and her dejection was clear "Nothing matters anymore, we failed and were probably going to die down her e we might as well throw ourselves into the dark eco. It could hardly be any worse than waiting here for the rest of our lives and with no food we'll probably die of starvation soon..."

"Maia!" Gol's raspy voice was cold and sharp and cut through her ramblings like a knife. "Shut up. How am I supposed to find a way out of here if you keep moaning like a little girl?"

"How _dare_ you!" her voice blazed with anger "Don't you get it? There's no point anymore, down here we're as good as dead! We might as well just throw ourselves in the dark eco! Stop kidding yourself and wake up!"

"But..." Even Gol was finding it hard to see a way out and his voice lacked any conviction.

"No! We are dead and if you can't see that it's time I introduced you to the reality!" She got up and strode to the control panel.

"Maia. What are you doing?" Gol's was clearly unnerved and worried about what she was going to do.

"I'm sorry brother but I can't see the point anymore." A tear trickled down her face as her true features shone through the control of dark eco. But with a surprising suddenness her face hardened and she pressed a few buttons rapidly.

"No!" Gol leapt forward to stop her but it was too late the exit opened and the dark eco flooded in, eagerly rushing to fill the chamber. The dark eco swamped in and he fell to the ground clinging to consciousness like a drowning man clinging to driftwood.


	2. Vengeful Return: Chapter 1

Sorry but I wanted to see if I would get any good reviews from my previous story. I'm not very good with personalities and you don't really get to see much of Gol and Maia but anyway here is the next chapter

Vengeful Return – Chapter 1: The Awakening

Gol and Maia sunk deep beneath the surface of the planet. The dark eco gifted them substantial abilities but for centuries they slumbered, perfectly preserved by dark eco. Ordained as the vessels through which dark eco would ravage the world. They were eventually granted the ability to scan the thoughts of those around them, but the catacombs had been designed by the Precursors. Their machinery had the power to conceal the activities of the Precursors below from the world above, but perversely it blocked the abilities of Gol and Maia. Long they slept with dreams of darkness and destruction.

Then slowly they began to awake. The Catacombs were re-opened and the Precursors had left the planet. With the instability of the eco core, the eco radiation began to lash out slowly rousing them. Soon the core had become so unstable the nearby eco sources had begun to shut down. The energy necessary to conceal activity below (and block the siblings abilities), was cut off, the machinery shut down.

Gol awoke gasping as memories, thoughts and emotions flooded his mind. He grasped his head in pain and vaguely saw his sister awaken and make the same motion. He reached inside him and felt the swirling eco within him, he felt as if his head was about explode. With a herculean mental effort he shut of his thought-scanning ability. He immediately felt calm wash over him as his own thoughts returned to him. The dark eco flooding in, the burning sensation as the eco burned his skin and ate his flesh, desperately closing the hatch in a desperate to try and stem the flow of dark eco, and finally, welcoming the enveloping sensation of unconsciousness as the blackness enveloped him.

He looked around dark eco had tainted everything leaving a sort of purplish stain. He looked down and saw the dark eco which had preserved him; the level had risen up to his waist before he had shut the hatch and he was immersed in it. He felt momentary panic but soon calmed as he saw it was doing nothing to him. Rather than completely devouring the bottom half of his body the dark eco simply swirled harmlessly

He smiled, dark eco had always been unpredictable but now it seemed it had protected him and his sister, it had chosen them to carry out the plan, to flood the world with it. He watched as his sister took control of her abilities and stood unsteadily. During their long slumber they had both slowly lost a sense of their physical bodies as they had joined with the dark eco upon another level of consciousness.

"How long has it been?" she asked her voice quite faint but growing stronger with each word.

"Three hundred years, give or take a decade. Judging from the thoughts of those around, the world is quite changed."

"Hm. First we must find a way out of the silos, then we must familiarise ourselves with this new world, finally we must carry out our plan again and this time no one will stop us" her voice filled with relish at the thought of the destruction they could

"It appears we are somewhere in the Catacombs, the point where the Precursors created the world it would be a useful starting point." Gol's voice was filled with a dark glee.

They both constructed dark eco shields, strong enough even to hold back the dark eco, and floated out into the silos a door appeared to have been constructed at the base of the silos and as they stepped through it they noted the light eco shield which held back the dark eco. They made their way to the control panel and began to familiarise themselves with the world.

"The silo appears to have been a store of unstable dark eco which the Precursors used as a power source. Then with a mysterious race called Metal Heads attacked not long after we were thrown into the silos only a few villages survived and our Citadel was razed and Haven City was built. It says a Precursors Temple was created and built over the Silos and the Monks were entrusted with its protection. It stops after that, they must have left." Gol reported to Maia.

"This place will do nicely" Maia spoke with relish at the upcoming destruction.


	3. Vengeful Return: Chapter 2

Hey sorry if my chapters are short but I'm new to Fanfiction anyway here's my next chapter.

Vengeful Return - Chapter 3: The Dark Armies

Dark lightning shot in all directions as the Lurker twisted in agony. The transformation complete, the Lurker was then equipped with a mixture of Precursor and Dark Maker technology creating the ultimate dark warrior, the backbone of Gol and Maia's dark army.

"Excellent. Everything's going according to plan we have over three hundred warriors now" Gol's raspy voice broke the thick silence. Maia smiled and opened her mouth to speak but Gol interrupted her, guessing her unspoken question "Construction has begun but the Dark Makers are not close enough yet, it's probably going to be another three days before the cargo can be transported. Maia closed her mouth and smiled and turned back to her computer watching their dark army grow.

_Two weeks earlier._

Gol and Maia gazed at the dark eco laboratory only halted by a reinforced, unyielding metal door. "So how do you suggest we proceed?" Gol asked.

Maia smirked "Easy." Maia raised her hand and a dark eco blast shot out blasting the door and reduced it to rubble. They entered and were faced with dark eco robots that quickly ran towards them. They were quickly rebuffed and scattered like leaves flying through the air, quelling enemies along the way the siblings quickly took control of the laboratory.

"Humph. To easy, with these new powers we could easily defeat that brat and his little hairball." Maia was brimming with self-confidence.

"We must be cautious, don't get over confident." Gol was more cautious after their initial failure they couldn't afford for their plan to be ruined again. Gol turned to the computer screens and began to build their vast army.

"Oh stop being so paranoid. Nothing can stop us!" Maia was too consumed by her future vision of destruction and devastation

_The Brink _

Jak, Daxter, Tym and Keira were all loading into the hellcat when a message came through. It was Samos. "Jak! Thank the Precursors! You need to get back to Haven City! Seem as given us some disturbing news...!" Samos would have probably said more but the transmission appeared to be suffering some sort of interference and was suddenly shut off. Jak and Keira stared at the blank screen and then at each other. Then understanding flooded and wordlessly they streamed off into the sky setting a course for Haven City.

_Haven City, the Palace (rebuilt)_

An emergency meeting had been called and Torn, Ashelin, Samos, Seem and the Freedom League generals were all gathered around the war table in avid discussion when Jak and Keira entered.

"Never fear, Orange-Lightning is here!" Daxter cried.

Jak rolled his eyes in exasperation "What's the happening then?"

Torn ignored Daxter but turned his attention to Jak "We have had some major news ever since you went on your little fairy quest..."

Keira cut in "It wasn't a fairy quest! For your information we just saved the whole world and I needed to know if I was cut out to be a sage, which I am so..."

Jak stopped her from continuing "Leave it. So what's the news?"

"Anyway" He said glaring at Keira "We have had disturbing reports of renewed Metal Head activity which has become a problem we don't need another war, Haven Forest has become unresponsive and all our scouts don't come back, Aeropa is in disarray and Seem has given us some very disturbing news concerning the Precursor monks."

"What?" Jak was confused at the recent turn of events.

Torn sighed and rolled his eyes in exasperation "Ok. Let's start with the Metal Heads" He pressed a button on the table and a map showed up with various dots. "When the war ended as you can see the Metal Heads were greatly reduced in numbers and leaderless. These were the only known nests left. We have been sending raids against the Metal Heads, but of late these raids have become more difficult and there have been more nests. We have gone from these nests" He pointed to the ten dots "To these." He pressed another button and ten more dots appeared with a significantly larger one in the middle of the Wasteland far away from both Spargus and Haven City.

"What's that" said Jak pointing to the larger dot.

Torn frowned "That one is, from what our scouts tell us, a significantly larger nest then the others. We suspect the Metal Heads are forming another army to attack and that seems to be their HQ but it's a lot smaller than their previous HQ's so were not too worried yet.

Ashelin cut in "What we are worried about is their increased numbers and we are curious as to how they have managed to swell their numbers so dramatically in such a small time. "

Samos spoke "Then we have the fact that Haven Forest has become so inaccessible. We don't quite know what is happening their but we suspect it ties into the unresponsiveness of Aeropa."

Torn picked up the narrative again "Yes. Ever since you defeated Duke Skyheed the Aeropan armies were crushed by the people and they have been trying to rebuild their city. But of late communication between us and them has dwindled and come to nothing. We cannot make enemies in Aeropa and so we have sent emissaries to find out what's going on."

"So what do you need me to do?" Jak's confusion was gone now and had been replaced by a calm assurance while Daxter was still making faces unnoticed by the others.

Torn opened his mouth to speak but Samos cut in "We need you to go straight to Haven Forest and find out what is happening." Torn looked round confused but Samos' voice brooked no argument. Instead he turned back to Jak. He was already gone.


	4. Vengeful Return: Chapter 3

_Hey everyone this chapter doesn't have much about Gol and Maia but Jak meets a familiar face and does Gol and Maia have a new ally?_

Vengeful Return - Chapter 4: The Count's Retribution

Jak hacked through the trees and bushes of Haven Forest and sat down wearily in a clearing, breathing laboriously. He was supposed to be looking for any signs of trouble and he'd been searching for hours. His transmitter crackled to life as Samos began to speak "Jak my boy. Have you found anything?"

Jak shook his head before realising that Samos couldn't see him "No nothing."

Samos sighed "Well keep looking." The transmitter shut off and Jak groaned. He had been probing the Forest for hours and he'd found nothing, no Metal Heads, no armies, not even a dangerous animal had crossed his path except for a snake which had bitten him. Jak looked down at the bite and cursed before applying some medicine to the injury. Jak peered at the sky and saw it was almost time for the sun to set; he'd better take a quick scan before he left, night would fall and anyway he was exhausted. He got up and wearily walked to the south side of the Forest.

_Southern Haven Forest_

Even as he crossed into the south side Jak knew something was wrong the air was filled with an unnatural chill and the quiet was unnerving. He tentatively took a few more steps and reached for his gun. He walked on, peering through the trees as he felt the air thick with eco. He cautiously explored further when the air around him let off a huge resounding shockwave not dissimilar to an alarm Jak instantly become alert as the eco nexus was triggered. He knew everything within miles would know his location. He ran forward and opened up to a massive project that surrounded the clearing, sitting in the middle stood the Astro-Projecter.

He gazed in wonderment at the project, anti-air turrets pointed to the sky had constructed out of Precursor technology, ground turrets and indiscernible weaponry was being constructed, but even as he stared at the constructions he became aware of the workers. He looked at them curiously but was unable to discern what sort of creature they were. They appeared to have been created by using some sort of Precursor technology which was inbuilt into its arms. He wondered about these creatures, something about them struck him as strangely familiar. He had no time to dwell on the matter because as he stared one of them soon turned round and dropping its tools pointed his fingers at Jak, bolts of light erupted from his fingers and shot towards the surprised Jak. Instinctively he jumped out of the way and retaliated with his gun, firing of blasts which hit the chest of the cyborg leaving scorch marks. The creature keeled over and fell to the ground; Jak was unable to tell whether or not it was still alive but even as he watched dark clouds began to slowly escape from beneath the fallen creature's skin and dissipate before, with a clatter, the Precursor technology fell with a clang to the ground, the body had vanished. He had no time to contemplate this as the other workers spun round and started up a riot as they prepared to avenge their fallen comrade.

"Leave him!" The command cut through the air and immediately the cyborgs turned round and began construction. It was not the command that shook Jak but the voice who spoke it from somewhere behind him. He turned round and came face to face with Count Veger.

Jak involuntarily stepped back a few paces at the strange expression on Veger's face. Instead of hate or rage it just showed quiet amusement. "You!" gasped Jak as he visibly collected himself and his head burst with a thousand questions, what was most confusing was his human appearance. Veger looked just the same as when he had met him down at the eco mines. He had even regained his Precursor Staff.

"Yes me." Veger's voice was filled with amusement and a dark glee. He raised his staff and the gem at the tip shone with bright red flash. Seconds later the air around him grew dark and Jak recognised dark eco at work. Clouds began to seep out of his body and with a horrible suddenness the dark cloud flew upwards consuming him and promptly dissipated taking Veger with it. Then behind Jak again the air grew dark and clouds seemed to be drawn out of the air forming slowly before revealing an unharmed Veger while the clouds disappearing within his body. He stood on the lowest of the pillars which stood around the Astro-Viewer but his expression was of such amusement that Daxter he looked down at Jak with the same amused smirk. He thinks this all a game, thought Jak, but I need explanations! Jak turned and looked up at Veger "So, how did you become...?"

"Human?" Veger interjected, "Simple. Some acquaintances of mine changed me back from that mongrel those insidious _Precursors_ changed me into" His voice became a hiss of anger." Those imposters were nothing compared to the greater power I now serve."

"What are you rambling about?" Daxter had been quiet up to now but it seemed he couldn't control himself any longer.

Veger seemed to notice Daxter for the first time and his displeasure was even more evident "I see you brought that filthy, overgrown hairball with you."

"Hey! I wash regularly you know!" Daxter's retort was true to character

"Enough!" His voice resumed its amused tone "It makes no difference in the end. After all it's fitting that the first casualty of the Precursors should be their greatest assetand his sidekick. I'm sure the hairball's bravado will dwindle as he watches the Precursor's hero scream."

Jak disregarded the threat but took out his gun. "Why do hate us and the Precursors so much anyway, last time I checked you were licking their boots."

"The Precursors are not the rulers of the galaxy, they are nothing compared to the Dark Ones. It didn't take much for me to open my eyes to the weakness of those pests. Soon they will witness the destruction of this precious planet and the Dark Makers will reward me with their vast powers."

"The Dark Makers? No!" Jak's eyes widened in horror.

"Yes, they will come again and we will hand over this pathetic planet. But enough chatter." Veger began to grow impatient of the idle talk. "Do you know the history of this Forest?"

Daxter groaned

"Be silent! This was once a place for the Precursors to construct their technology such as the Astro-Viewer. However with the imminent threat of the Metal Heads and the Dark Ones they built extremely powerful eco cores, similar almost to batteries for light eco, in important areas such as these. These eco cores will soon be unlocked and I will be greatly rewarded by the Dark Ones when you are destroyed" His voice was filled with relish at the prospect of destroying Jak. He raised his staff and it emitted another glow. The ground began to tremble as the pillars surrounding the Astro-Viewer began to slide downwards beneath the water. The water began to slowly drain off with hidden pipes and the ground began to open up to reveal a precursor tower. At the top sat a beautiful sphere pulsing with light which washed over everything. But even as Jak watched in wonderment he saw it had been tampered with. It was sitting almost in a dish which wires protruded from hanging loosely down the sides of the tower. He saw the air began to dim as light clouds rushed in and five of the cyborgs appeared. These were different to the last, they crackled with light eco and precursor technology was in-built to their arms, legs and their chests. As he watched them the wires rose of their own accord and attached themselves to the precursor technology in the creatures's back. The core soon glowed faintly and the technology in their chests glowed before emitting a light eco shield which covered their bodies as tight as a glove, which rose to cover the wires and even the whole tower. Veger wasn't taking any chances. Daxter looked around worriedly but Jak was confident, it was time to crack some heads.


	5. Vengeful Return: Chapter 4

Sorry I have not been updating, it's hard to put my plot into words. It's probably writer's block, anyway here is chapter 4

Vengeful Return Chapter 5: Puppets of the Dark Ones.

"Yeah you showed them Jak!"

Daxter was exclaiming their triumph as Jak stood panting. Exhausted from the fight, he straightened up and went to examine the bodies of the cyborgs as Daxter continued to express his delight. As Jak examined the cyborgs they slowly began to disappear as dark clouds leaked out from their skin and dissipated. Jak straightened up as he regained his breath and look around for Veger, noticing for the first time that he wasn't present. Jak cursed, the coward must have taken off once the fighting had begun. He began to examine his wounds and as he did so he remembered Veger's unfathomable decision to join the Dark Makers. He couldn't understand how someone who had fanatically worshipped the Precursors could so suddenly turn against everything he believed in. Veger's change of heart was too sudden; it was like something was controlling him.

Jak was shaken out of his thoughts as clapping filled the air. Daxter stopped prancing around and looked around worriedly for the source of the sound. But right in front of him appeared Veger, as the clouds settled beneath his skin, and he looked at Daxter with cold amusement as he scrambled backwards to jump onto Jak's shoulder. Jak looked straight at Veger while he stopped clapping and stood there with a chilly smile covering his face. "Excellent show Jak, you put on quite the performance and here I was thinking that I had cornered the hero of the Precursors at last."

"You'll have to do hell of a lot better than that to get rid of me Veger"

"Too true, if your past is anything to go by, still my acquaintances will be sorely disappointed. Although I suspect they want to meet you personally, they're old friends of yours and it's been _so _long since you've seen them.

Jak looked confused; he couldn't remember any old friends. "Old friends?"

Veger simply smiled as he vanished once again and a disembodied, perverse laughter filled the air. It was utterly alien and the two voices mixed around in the air. Jak looked around in confusion looking for the source of the sound as two familiar figures appeared floating in the air.

Jak looked in horror as he recognised the two figures floating in front of him. Gol was still laughing manically as Maia looked at Jak, hatred filled her features and her eyes began to glow purple before filling with a blackness which looked similar to volcanic glass. Dark eco crackled around her as a physical manifestation of her rage while Gol stopped laughing and looked at Jak with a dark rage "Well looks like little Jak is all grown up. Not so sweet and innocent anymore by the looks of things although, you lost that innocence when you left us to rot in that silo." Gol paused to examine Jak's mind.

Jak visibly collected himself and began to speak "So you're the ones who turned Veger back. How did you escape the silo? And what have you been doing then?"

Gol finished examining Jak's mind and focused on him as Maia began to calm down and the darkness faded from her eyes. "Quite an interesting story..."

_Flashback._

As Gol finished examining his workforce he turned to Maia who was also examining the Lurkers. He was inwardly cursing the slow progress that a week had bought. Even though all the technology was around they didn't have the workforce or weapons to dig them out of the catacombs. So they resolved to study the new world. Gol and Maia used dark eco and created disguises as they began to scout. They flew over Haven and scanned quickly picking out the trivial thoughts and then found their way to Spargus, Aeropa, The Brink and Kras City. Soon they had teleported their way back into the Catacombs and began to make sense of all they had seen.

Maia was the first to make sense of everything and as she filed everything away she thought of something she had found near the Brink and New Haven. Something called the Dark Warrior program had piqued her interest and she communicated this to her brother.

Their initial projects with Lurkers proved eventful if unsuccessful. But by attaching specially adapted Precursor technology to the Lurkers they found the dark abilities of their soldiers to be considerable and they were easy to control. New weaponry using Precursor technology was built and Lurkers were split into groups some for construction and excavation, while some were used as an army. The catacombs had now become a factory for their dark army.

Scouts sent out, reported an interesting laboratory near the Brink and Gol and Maia quickly leapt upon it. Establishing control over it they quickly changed it into another factory while they continued to expand their influence discretely. But what caught Gol's attention was something strange in Spargus and New Haven. Almost like a blank in an art piece there was one mind that escaped the mind reading ability of the siblings.

Scouting in the Spargus lead to the finding of a certain rodent riding on the shoulder of a man called Kleiver. Out of Gol's hand erupted a bolt of dark eco that engulfed Kleiver and left him as he slumped to the ground, dead.

The rat was dumped on the floor of the Catacombs and Gol watched in amusement as it scrambled to get up and began to stare at Gol and Maia with fear clouding his eyes. They stood there staring at each other before Maia got impatient "Tell us, who and what are you?" she said sharply. Gol and Maia listened intently as the rat stumbled over his explanation and began to work on a project to revert him to his human self. They studied the rat extensively and recalled where they had seen a similar creature before. Jak, Gol's fury rose at even the thought of him, had a creature which closely resembled the creature which stood in front of him.

Armed with this knowledge they proceeded with multiple dark eco experiments before finally devising the procedure necessary to change the rat back. In his human form they should be able to glean more information and once they had finished Veger was looking back at them in delight, happy to be back in his human body. Gol smiled but more evilly as he proceeded to knock him out.

They flicked through his memories of childhood before scanning through the more recent memories. However what really shook them was the memory of the eco mines. "Jak! How is he still alive?!" Gol and Maia's rage flickered and grew as their power swirled around them. They rose up, floating in the air as their eyes filled with an intense blackness, giving the impression of volcanic glass. Dark eco swirled around their bodies and shot out in random directions causing huge explosions as the Lurkers ran, terrified of the horrifying anger which came from their masters.

Precursor technology exploded as the siblings released all of their anger. Dark eco flickered along machinery and their rage exploded with the force of a bomb. They stood their panting as they controlled their anger and the blackness seeped out of their eyes. Their anger was not quite gone yet; they were still seething with fury as they shifted through the remainder of Veger's memories, barely taking anything in.

Gol's anger was the first to cool and as he ran through Veger's mind he thought what a useful puppet he could become. His fanatical devotion would be useful if they could convince him to worship the Dark Makers. He communed his thoughts to his sister, as she too began to calm, her wrath less than before although not completely absent. He shot dark eco and Veger began to stir has he regained consciousness. Before he could even stand Maia kneeled down and made eye contact.

Using her powers deep within her she began to speak in his mind and Veger visibly shuddered as she spoke. "Why worship the Precursors? They are nothing, think about how they _rewarded_ you." Gone was her sharp, harsh voice, replaced by a soft, captivating, melodic sound. Her words invoked Veger's emotions and anger rose up within him as he remembered how the Precursors had treated him. "They turned you into a mongrel and who do they revere? That idiot, Jak, the saviour of the world and it was to him they offered their limited power. Think about the Dark Makers, look at their supreme power. They can offer you the powers that those Precursors could never dream of. A power only a god could control and you could be that god."

Emotions boiled around Veger as he began to believe the siblings, the darkness of their power reaching inside him and convincing him. A dark power held his mind as his emotions and doubts were pushed aside by its influence. The work of the siblings they saw their new ally and left the command of the catacombs to him. His experiments were ironic, using light eco and Precursor technology to take down their creators. Soon he too had begun construction as the siblings left for the Brink, knowing that they could not fail.

_End of Flashback_

"So you see, that is what we have been doing. You cannot stop us, our powers surpass yours and our plan is almost to fruition." Gol and Maia spoke with an almost boastful confidence. Jak shook his head, another puppet of the Dark Makers.

"You're insane and if you think I am just going to sit by and watch while you hand this planet of to the Dark Makers, you obviously don't remember me that well."

Gol grinned evilly "But Jak, you're not going to have a choice." A bolt shot out of his hand as he spoke but Jak was ready and jumped to the side only to be caught by a trap Maia had set up. Dark eco coursed through his body as he screamed. His energy was drained; he tried reaching for his light and dark eco within him. There was a flash of Dark Jak before it was suppressed by another force, and the light eco was already too weak. His breathing slowed and he welcomed the shadows which enveloped him, gratefully falling into darkness.


	6. Vengeful Return: Chapter 5

Sorry I haven't been updating for a while but I busy and couldn't think of anything to write. I have been procrastinating but I finally sat down and came up with this.

Vengeful Return Chapter 6: Dark Torment

Jak slowly awoke and immediately felt the searing pain around his wrists as he opened his eyes and tried to move his arms. He blearily opened his eyes and surveyed the room, seeing nothing while his eyes adjusted to the dark gloom. He surveyed the room, it was windowless and small, and reminded him of the sinister prisons which Erol and placed him during the dark eco experiments. His throat constricted as he looked around and was suddenly back to being a small boy, young and vulnerable, trapped by the dark and fear of dark eco experiments, the beatings and menacing guards. With a shake of his head he dispelled those dark thoughts; he was no longer the small defenceless boy he had been.

He looked at the manacles which bound him and tugged at them instinctively, rewarded by a dark burning pain, he tugged again half-heartedly and stopped. He looked around and saw the cybernetic Lurkers standing by guarding his cell. Dark and light bolts of electricity crackled around their bodies and Jak saw they had not only utilised Precursor technology but Dark Maker as well. He looked at the manacles once again and noticed a dark purplish tinge. Dark eco, his dark and light side reached out to him and he did so too but felt a oppressing force, like a push and his dark and light side was repressed. He hung his head dejectedly.

There was a loud bang and footsteps as the Lurkers stood aside and a figure stepped through. He looked at Jak as he slowly raised his head. Erol stood there and grinned "Just like old times, right Jak?" Jak just sat their slumped; there had been so many surprises that he didn't have it in him to be shocked any more. Erol simply looked down at Jak and waved his hand, the walls began to shimmer and the illusion faded, becoming the solid walls of Precursor and Dark Maker technology. Erol chuckled "Sorry about that Jak, just a bit of fun, a walk down memory lane."

"Stop beating around the bush Erol how are you here? I recall launching a peacemaker at you, you couldn't have survived that."

"I would hardly call it _survived._" With a flick of his hand he began to shimmer as the hologram dropped revealing a robot, a mixture of Dark Maker and Precursor technology, slightly taller than Jak. He laughed, his voice and taken a metallic quality "No. When my masters found me I was almost nothing, they downloaded my brain into a computer and imbued me with new abilities. Now I can transfer my brainwaves into any receptive computer and control it, like this hologram robot, and now..." He shimmered and once again his hologram rose, he crouched down and his voice turned dark and ominous "... it's time for payback."

He stood and left, his footsteps echoing throughout the chamber. Jak hung his head in despair.

_Haven Forest_

Bushes rustled as an orange flash flew by, startling an animal. Daxter stood looking around frantically, nervous of nearby noises. A Lurker leapt through the bushes after him, and surveyed slowly before setting off the way he had come. Daxter stood trembling and poked his head out from behind a tree. He sighed in relief, but then remembered _Jak! _

He walked around slowly trying to discern where he was and jumped as the nearby bushes began to rustle ominously. Daxter turned slowly but before he could hide a figure jumped out and a hand clamped over his mouth. He started to yell before realising the figure was Ashelin. "Quiet otherwise those things will hear us!" Daxter almost fainted in relief.

_Gol and Maia's Prison_

Gol and Maia floated into Jak's chamber and with a jolt of dark eco he was awakened. Maia held his chin and forced his eyes to meet hers, seeing the despair in them she chuckled "Given up already Jak? Don't worry we aren't going to kill you just yet, you've got to pay first!" She let go of and waved her hand, Erol and Veger appeared either side of her and panels either side of Jak opened. Dark Maker torture equipment began to crackle as it prepared to execute its dark purpose. Precursor technology expanded from the left panel and also began to crackle as tubes attached themselves to Jak.

The dark eco shot through his body and Jak let out a gasp. Erol laughed "Feeling the sting already Jak? But we've barely begun!" A more concentrated blast shot through his body and Jak arched in pain. Maia snapped her fingers and dark eco began to spread over his body first over his clothing and as that dissolved it began to eat at the skin, Jak bit his lip as a scream rose in his throat. He wasn't going to give them the satisfaction, the dark eco began to spread and his lip began to bleed as the dark eco burnt and blistered his flesh.

Finally the pain receded as the dark eco was drawn out of his body and at long last left. The light eco began to enter but as it did so he noticed a dark tinge and realise it had been tainted. The light eco began to heal his body but he screamed as a pain racked through his body and the flesh which had been dissolved slowly grew back, leaving the skin just as before. He slumped and was hardly even aware of the whirl of the torture device as it prepared its new assault. Cuts began to appear all over his body, still suffering from the previous pain Jak was hardly aware as the wounds began to open.

Spasms began to rack his body as he screamed once again, the cuts began to open and the dark eco, placed on the knives, entered his body. The pain was excruciating and was only increased as the tainted light eco began its work again. The torture continued and Erol and Maia's sadistic laughs resounded around the chamber. Veger began to grow uncomfortable and unnoticed by the others left as did Gol. Maia and Erol was still staring with a manic glee as the dark eco began to force his blood vessel s to the surface of his body and with bursts of blood they were ripped physically out of his and blood began to spurt everywhere covering the already blood soaked Jak.

To Jak the pain was excruciating. It had broken his mind, turned him into an animal, his only thought was to escape the pain but even that had vanished and instead of fighting the pain he just gave in. He soon felt nothing as his body was tormented but his mind was in its own sanctuary. He felt little pain now and he didn't realise until much later that it had stopped.

_The Baron's Palace/ Freedom HQ_

Ashelin and Torn had led a battalion of troops after Jak hadn't returned and after they had found Daxter, they had brought him back to HQ where they tried to make sense of his blabbering as he finally calmed down.

Daxter had finished reciting what he had seen and Samos was concluding his explanation of Gol and Maia.

"Well." Ashelin loaded her guns and holstered them "Let's get going"


	7. Vengeful Return: Chapter 6

_Hey everyone thanks for the reviews. Here is the next chapter, keep reviewing please! _

Vengeful Return Chapter 7: Fall of Aeropa/ The Beginning of the End

Maia floated through the newly renovated, former Aeropan Barracks. Its interior had been completely refurbished and even as she watched more cybernetic Lurkers were added to her already vast army. She turned away from the growing army and with a flick of her hand a computer screen flicked on and Gol turned to face her.

"Progress report." Her command was sharp but she still felt a connection to her brother. Gol snapped his fingers and multiple screens appeared.

"Construction is coming along fine. In a week or so we shall have completed the construction; our only problem now is our limited amount of dark eco. But our armies continue to grow, soon we will lay siege on Haven City and we shall have all the eco we need." Maia smiled but she was less than satisfied.

"What about Aeropa?" she said.

"There have been no developments. Our armies continue to batter against the walls but despite their lack of an effective army, they have managed to hold off our armies. However we have effectively cut off communication, so no outside help can be expected. We simply need to break down their walls and get to the cities eco supply."

"Can we not use the Eco Core?" Maia already knew the answer but she was hoping for a quick way to power their robot.

"No. "Gol was adamant "Using it may cause massive instability and we cannot cause any alarm. If the alert goes out on a global scale they will bring their armies and crush us. The element of surprise will be very useful."

"Very well, and as for Aeropa, bring it to its knees. Use any means necessary." With that ominous command she flicked her hand and Gol's image vanished. Her eyes glittered, it was time to go and see Jak.

_Aeropa, the Brink_

The city itself was exhausted; it was dull but relatively unharmed, but the war had taken a great toll. Food had become scarce and the people were dying, the green eco was now so rare it was saved only for unique occasions. The army had been torn apart by the people as Duke Skyheed had tried carry out his insane plan and now leaderless and in disarray a new enemy had taken it upon themselves to attack them.

The cyborgs were inhumane, they did not seem to need sleep and the army was vast. However the people of Aeropa were not without valour and strength, they had fought off the armies but it had been draining the eco and resources. They were losing but not slow enough for the on looking Gol. His plan needed to be implemented.

The Lurkers carried in the newest weapons. Fused with both Precursor and Dark Maker technology, they had been intended to be used against Haven City however clearly they had underestimated the resilience of the Aeropeans and their apparent weakness. The walls had been shielded with light eco and their attacks and barely managed to breach any part of it. Their efforts to climb over the walls had been repelled and the air attacks were out of the question with the Aeropeans, they were simply too good in the air.

The machinery began to whirl and dark eco shot into the sky. Immediately the skies began to darken, the clouds gathered and acquired an unnatural purple look. The Aeropeans were too amazed with the sky show that they were hardly aware of its threat.

The clouds began to descend and the people began to panic as the eerie clouds descended. The people tried to escape but there was nowhere to run to. The people began to scream as they breathed in the deadly air and the dark eco seeped through their bodies, mutating and corrupting them. With a loud bang lightning-like bolts erupted from the low clouds and the mutants howled as bolts coursed through their body. The light eco shield centre was struck and with a final sputter the light eco shield faded.

The walls burst and rubble scattered everywhere as the armies entered the city, just as the mining Lurkers burst from the underground. The mutants were captured and killed as the last of the city fell to the power of Gol and Maia and Aeropa was no more.

_Gol and Maia's Prison_

Jak was writhing on floor, heedless to burns of the chains, as he desperately tried to escape his imprisonment. Maia watched him amused and finally entered just as he stopped and finally regained his pitiful composure. Jak looked up at her his face contorted with hate and a plea for mercy. She laughed as she flicked her hand and a cut appeared in his face. Again the panels either side of Jak opened but, although he barely noticed, the machinery was different.

He shook his head as he began to feel drowsy. Desperately Jak tried to stay awake but slipped into a dark sleep. The eco induced state began to take its toll on Jak as he twitched and turned. His nightmares were dark and terrible and his overwhelming emotions began to overcome him. As he stood mourning over a dead Daxter his emotions broke something inside of him as he struggled awake.

His skin turned pale and his eyes grew dark as Dark Jak emerged. Maia stopped laughing quickly and began to back away. The hate and malevolence in his eyes was chilling and her mouth was as dry as bone from fear. Veger and Erol panicking disappeared as their courage broke and Dark Jak pulled on his chains heedless to the dark eco. The manacles broke and Jak stood up, rubbing his wrists, staring at Gol and Maia with a dark glee.

He leapt forwards and Gol instinctively raised a shield around them both as Jak slashed out with his claws. His first swipe caught Maia in the head and Gol was sent flying by a shockwave from his other hand. Maia stood up, the shield had protected her and Gol reappeared at her side, their composure had returned. "So" Maia sneered "This is your dark side Jak? I have to say he is far more... interesting then your normal self." Dark Jak chuckled.

"Yes. I am the result of two years of dark eco experimentation. Quite a good look isn't it?" He said as he examined his claws. "I have to say though you've been pissing me off and you're going to pay the price!" He snarled and leapt forward, claws ready to tear into Gol and Maia's flesh as bolts shot out of their fingers. They hit him but he seemed hardly affected as he retaliated with his own bolts. Gol raised his hand in front of him and a dark eco shield expanded once again.

They remained locked in conflict as Dark Jak continued to shoot bolts and the shield began to crack. A desperate shockwave resounded from Maia's hand just as Gol's shield broke. Gol and Maia shot backwards and hit the wall, head first. They slumped to the floor just as Dark Jak got up; he started towards them however soon his skin had regained its colour and Jak groaned as he felt the injuries Dark Jak had brushed aside.

He was exhausted and weak but he wasn't going to stay another minute in that hellhole.


	8. Vengeful Return: Chapter 7

Vengeful Return Chapter 8: Escape from Hell

Jak stumbled along, leaning against the wall, as he tried to find a way out of the labyrinth of corridors. He had been lucky that no one had raised the alarm... yet. But he was sure it was only a matter of time and time was something he didn't have. There was no way he would be able to fend off Gol and Maia's soldiers in his weakened state and he was sure that Gol and Maia had only shown a fraction of their abilities before, he had caught them off guard but he was certain they were still alive, probably just knocked out and with his wounds and limited amount of eco he wouldn't be able to deal with them again.

He sighed and shook his head of those dark thoughts. Using what little light eco he had left he healed himself of the more threatening wounds, lessening the pain and basking in the pleasant healing sensation. The dark eco which had infected his wounds vanished and he stood up swaying unsteadily while his body screamed in silent protest. He peeked around the corner slowly and ducked back as double doors opened and Lurker left before entering a door nearby. Jak caught a glimpse of shining light before the doors slid shut. Light eco! Just what he needed to get his body back in shape and then he could look for some weapons and a way out.

_Recuperation Centre_

Gol and Maia's bodies arched as dark and light eco coursed through and all their injuries were slowly healed. The eco slowly revived them and they began to blink rapidly from the bright light. They rose in the air and slowly touched to the ground as the consciousness and memories returned to the siblings. Bolts flew everywhere as Maia unleashed her anger and the Lurkers cowered. Gol placed a hand on Maia's arm and slowly she calmed down. Gol turned to the Lurkers "Jak has escaped, find him and upload the alert to all troops on the compound. Jak can't be allowed to escape." He shook his head as he turned back to his tired sister. That was the problem with the Lurkers, they had a mechanical mind. Unless you told them to do something they wouldn't do it, Jak could walk anywhere in the compound and the Lurkers wouldn't consider him a priority, well hopefully he would be caught soon but Gol wasn't optimistic, Jak was a hard man to catch.

_Light Eco Centre_

Jak walked through the double doors and to his surprise no one even blinked at his appearance. What he had observed was that the technological implants that Gol and Maia had placed in them lessened their thinking capabilities and Gol and Maia, in their arrogance, had not considered him a priority before his escape. Jak examined the room, in the middle stood an enormous globe and connected both underneath and at the top he saw pipes which drained off light eco. There was another door at the other end of the room. Clearly this sector was entirely devoted to researching light eco. Vents, surrounding the machinery in the middle, spewed out light eco and he saw machinery at the edges of the room as various Lurkers bustled around. Some pipes ran off into separate parts of the compound and some ran into various weapons that the Lurkers were testing.

Jak stepped into one of the vents and just as he did so an alarm resounded throughout the compound. The more battle worthy Lurkers received their orders and simultaneously turned and leapt for him while the technology Lurkers cowered. Jak shone brightly as light eco coursed through his body and clapping his hands the world took a blue tinge as time slowed. He erected a shield and healing himself Jak looked around for a weapon. Some were far to large most likely for ships or ground turrets but others were more for infantry and seizing the nearest one he turned and fired, streaks of light eco shot out and the Lurkers froze as the a bolt looped through their chest before rebounding off the walls. Jak was unharmed thanks to his shield but within minutes most of the machinery had been destroyed and the Lurkers vanished with a clatter, as their technological implants fell to the ground. The light faded from Jak and he grabbed all the weapons he could. Fully healed, with a new arsenal of weapons and a firm determination he began to look for a way out.

Jak felt unstoppable, he would walk into a corridor filled with Lurkers and exit leaving only the smoking remains of the implanted technologies of the former Lurkers. He stopped as a map blinked into life on a wall. He saw that he was near the communications centre. He could contact the others, blow this place to pieces and get out. He walked into the communications centre and with a few blasts the Lurkers within had disappeared. Even if he could escape the compound this was the Dark Eco Research Centre and was surrounded with water. There was no way he was getting out without a ride. His fingers began to type.

_Baron's Palace_

Ashelin looked up as she saw an incoming communications, it was probably from Sig, how was he supposed to find Jak if he had no idea where Gol and Maia had taken him. She pressed a button and to her relief and enormous surprise Jak's image came into view. "Jak! Where are you? Sig has just led a bunch of troops to find you."

Jak grinned in relief "Hey Ashelin! Look I can't talk for long could you just get Sig to come and get me?"

"Where are you? Never mind I'll lock onto your coordinates and send those to Sig." Her fingers flew across the pad and within seconds the coordinates had been locked on and sent to Sig. "There, where are you going to be?"

Jak smiled "Wherever the largest explosion is." He said before the communications was cut off.

_Command Centre_

A Lurker ran up with a report and Gol scanned the data before throwing it at the Lurker "Alert everyone" He turned to inform his sister "They have detected activity in the communications centre, we cut off his transmission but no doubt he has already informed the others of his location" Maia nodded but was silent. Gol turned back to the Lurkers "Turn on security cameras and keep all soldiers updated to his location. We have to catch him, no doubt he is going to try and destroy this facility and we cannot allow him to disrupt the construction. I am going there now." He turned to his sister "Keep me updated" he said before disappeared.

_Construction Centre_

Jak entered a room and clicked his guns uselessly. Out of ammo, he was startled when the room began to move downwards and he realised he was in a lift. He felt the lift come to a sudden stop and peered out cautiously. The place was swarming with Lurkers but these ones paid him no attention, obviously what they were working on was so important that Gol and Maia didn't want it to be disrupted. He looked up and his grim suspicions were confirmed, they were busy building another robot, combining both Precursor and Dark Maker technology the robot stood tall and he stared in wonder at its dark majesty. His skin crawled and he spun around as Gol floated down and stared coldly at him. An enormous ring floated after him, and with a crackle it came to life and a multitude of laughs resounded turning Jak's blood cold and sending a chill up his spin. It was the Dark Maker's he was sure of it, never before had he felt such a strong sense of malevolence and dark power. Gol's raspy voice spoke "It's time you met my masters"


	9. Vengeful Return: Chapter 8

Vengeful Return Chapter 9: Dark Plans Unfold

Jak began to back away as the unsettling laughter died down. He saw the ring which stood behind Gol was a Warp Gate and with a chill he realised what was coming as he watched Dark Maker Troopers step through the portal. He felt a darkness begin to weigh down on his mind as he felt the malevolent power of the Dark Makers, far stronger then Jak's own dark powers and perhaps greater then Gol and Maia's and he felt despair and an ice cold fear running through his veins, he could hear his own heart thudding as a song began emanating from within the portal. Although Jak could not understand the words he knew what the dark hymn sang of, the dark destruction which followed in the Dark Maker's wake, the malicious power which they wielded and essentially who they were, dark gods of the Universe, and their utter and ruthless goal of total destruction. Even Gol seemed to shiver as he felt the darkness approaching and for the first time Jak saw him looking nervous, perhaps even fearful of the dark forces he had become a puppet to.

Three figures stepped out of the portal and Jak felt the dark power grip his mind, filling him with anguish, hate and anger, feeding of his hope and determination till it left him with no will to fight and his bravery had deserted him. It stripped away all the harder emotions bringing to mind the all the atrocities he had suffered but bolstering them until all that was left of Jak was the small little boy he had been, timid and frightened of the world. The ring behind the Dark Makers shut off and it collapsed to the floor in pieces. Jak stood frozen in place as the Troopers parted and the three figures floated down the small aisle and stood at the front of the vanguard. Gol seemed to have lost his nerve for with a bow to the Dark Makers he promptly vanished. The Dark Makers took no notice of Gol's quick departure but instead studied Jak as one would study a lab rat and Jak involuntarily took a step back at their gaze.

Floating in the air stood the twisted fiends that the corrupted Dark Makers had become, their bodies were infused with machinery and two had parts of their skeletons showing, perhaps their continuous contact with the dark eco had not only corrupted their minds but had began to degrade their physical bodies. Much of their flesh was visible but their eyes seemed untouched and they were completely black, even where the whites should be, showing their complete immersion in dark eco and to prevent himself from being lost within the deep abyss Jak averted his eyes and began to examine their bodies, it was vastly machinery and very little of the original bodies was visible and that which was visible had the look of tainted flesh as if dark eco had been allowed to seep into their wounds. Looking at their disgusting look Jak felt revulsion for what the ruined Precursors had become.

The mouth was intact though and the as the leader of the trio moved the remains of his ruined mouth a harsh noise sounded although oddly out of synch with the movement of his mouth. Although Jak understood nothing of the language the other Dark Makers clearly understood and gestured, with that signal their vanguard scattered and four of them leapt towards him. Jak drew one of his weapons and with one shot there was a flash and the first two Troopers slumped to floor. The other two were more cautious and their dark eco shields were raised, Jak smiled and the light eco bolts pierced their shields and two more troopers fell. As he pointed the gun at the lead Dark Maker and pulled the trigger, the accompanying Dark Makers gestured and a shield rose up to defend the leader, the bolt was absorbed by the shield and was caught in the middle, and Jak lowered his weapon in surprise. The white eco gathered as a circle entrapped by the shield and began to expand. With a small gesture by the leader a horizontal column of light shot straight at Jak. He dove to the side and the column shot straight past him, he rolled to his feet and as he raised his weapon he raised his weapon once again, this proved to be in vain as one of the trio raised his malformed hand palm upwards and Jak saw the shadows bend as a ball of dark energy formed. With a flick the ball left his hand and flew at Jak, he raised his hands instinctively and as the dark energy hit his weapon it began to react with the light eco, Jak dropped the weapon in surprise as each individual atom was stripped away from each other and slowly it dissolved from existence. Jak reached for another weapon as the Troopers advanced; he could swear that the Dark Maker's were smiling.

_Baron's Palace – New Haven_

Torn wasn't in a good mood, after the war against the Metal Heads and the battles which had almost torn Haven City apart had ended and peace had finally come to the former dystopia, he had hoped that he would never have to take part in the brutality of war again. It seemed that fate was not so kind to him for only a few years after the conflict had ended a new conflict a sprung into being and inevitably he was forced to take part in it. Aeropa was the source of this conflict, as Torn reflected it made perfect sense, it had just lost its power-crazed leader, it was only expected that another power-crazed leader would rise to fill the power void left behind. Only a few minutes after Ashelin and Sig had gone to rescue Jak a transmission had come through.

Some Aeropean commander had sent the transmission and he was clearly new to the post. He was panicked and it was apparent that he was under extreme pressure. Nervously and stuttering the soldier told Torn of the power-hungry leaders their mad plans and immediately Torn had snapped into action. Aeropa were attacking, how they had managed to gather the people willing and the supplies necessary seemed strange, especially for a city which was suffering from anarchy but Aeropa had been out of contact for a while and anyone with a mad dream could have stepped up to assume control over Aeropa. Torn contacted the army and explained of the situation, assuming command in Ashelin's absence. The army assembled was formidable, it would need to be as coincidentally scouts had reported that the Metal Heads were mobilising, if they were lucky they would fight among each other but it Torn didn't believe in coincidences, the Aeropeans had access to vast stores of dark eco, something the Metal Heads craved, if they had struck a deal it would explain their sudden attack.

Torn was snapped out of his reverie as a soldier ran up to him "Sir! We have a problem; we have detected a large attacking group from the north." Torn pushed past the shocked soldier and almost ran to the command centre, his fingers flew across the keyboard and the maps changed as he looked he saw the group he was about to issue all troops to defend when he caught sight of another smaller group of attackers coming in from the south-east, he was surprised by their deviousness but it wasn't so sneaky an attack, already they had been spotted he was about to issue his orders as he felt a sharp pain strike him across the back of the head, as he fell to the ground he saw the air shimmer and he saw some sort of machinery just before another blow connected with his head and like a dying candle his consciousness was enveloped in darkness.

Jak stood was bruised and bleeding but he wasn't defenceless... just yet. To Jak the situation couldn't get worse, trapped within Gol and Maia's twisted laboratory and now some of the most powerful beings in the Galaxy were standing in front of him wanting to tear him apart. However it was as he destroyed the last of the Troopers and turned to face the Dark Makers, heart sinking as more of the Troopers appeared out of the Teleportation Gate that the entire building shook. Jak was startled and looking to the Dark Makers wondered if it was their work however their faces showed nothing but shock, or at least what Jak could see from their deformed faces, and he quickly came to the conclusion that they were not responsible. The Troopers had also stopped advancing and parted as with an slow ceremony the Dark Makers turned and disappeared through the Gate, as the last Dark Maker went through Jak sighed with relief but his reprieve was short-lived as more Troopers poured out of the Gate before it collapsed. It seemed that although the Dark Makers were not willing to endanger themselves, they were quite happy to risk as many Troopers as necessary to get rid of Jak. With grim apprehension he prepared to fight.

_Command Centre, Gol's Laboratory_

Gol looked at the computer screens as one by one the shield generators were destroyed. It looked like Jak's friends had finally arrived, but it made no difference still he was getting more annoyed as he saw the ease that the Freedom League were bypassing his various defences. He looked at another computer screen showing the progress of the teleport machine, after all his hard work he wasn't going to let Jak or anybody else ruin his plan. Gol looked again at the progress of the Freedom League and realised that they had no idea as to where Jak was and although the construction site went deep below the surface, with enough firepower they could reach to site and damage his robot. "Activate all security measures, through everything you have at them and make sure that any energy that can be spared is diverted to the project's shield." He turned to another Lurker waiting patiently "Activate the bomb but ensure that it detonates only on my signal, the bomb has enough power to damage, perhaps even destroy, my robot and I don't want to take chances. Only activate it when I and the robot are well away from here" The Lurker scurried off, he didn't really think Jak was going to escape from the Troopers but even so he wanted this laboratory obliterated, that way neither Jak nor the Dark Makers could discover his true plans.


	10. Vengeful Return: Chapter 9

Sorry it has been so long since I updated. Here is the latest chapter.

Vengeful Return Chapter 10: The Cataclysmic Power of the Light and Dark

Jak was tired and injured and as the Troopers drew in he almost resigned himself to the inevitable, it was going to happen anyway, better to get it over and done with. He couldn't hope to beat the Troopers in his state, but even as those thoughts entered his head his stubborn side resisted. He might go down but he was going to take every one of those Troopers that he could, his face set into a mask of hatred at the Dark Makers and he prepared to charge at the oncoming Troopers. An explosion caught him by surprise as a whole section of the roof exploded and pieces of debris crashed to the ground. Instinctively he had raised his arms but as he lowered them he saw a Freedom League ship just before it fired at the Troopers obliterating them. The Dark Makers looked up and saw the descending fleet. One raised its hand and a blast of dark eco shot out, hitting one of the ships with deadly accuracy and enveloping it a dark explosion. A second Dark Maker merely looked at another ship, Jak felt the air hum as a dark force gripped the descending ship and pulled it into a wall. The Lurkers scattered as the vehicle collided and the resulting explosion tore a hole within the wall.

More ships were descending and more explosions rocked the underground base as holes were torn open by the Freedom League's artillery and more ships descended. The Dark Makers seemed to know they had lost as they turned and fled towards the open portal and disappeared as seconds later it shut down and collapsed as the dark power needed to function it was cut off. More ships descended and began to fire at the Lurkers and machinery. Jak saw the entire room shake as it was destroyed. Other ships began to fire at the robot within its shield but the dark eco protecting it was to strong and absorbed the gunfire with no visible damage.

Jak amazed by the turn of events looked at the rescuing fleet with relief but the Precursor robot caught his attention and he appraised the half-completed robot for the first time. With a tingle down his spine, he gazed at it, amazed at the dark aura of power that surrounded it and its evil beauty. It was purely Precursor but he reckoned that Gol and Maia were planning on infusing it with Dark Maker technology as well otherwise why else contact the Dark Makers? Jak had already proven that he was capable of fending of a Dark Maker attack. Even as those thoughts crossed his mind he felt a strange twinge in his head and Gol's raspy voice spoke from behind him, replying to what he had read from Jak's mind "Yes. That is one of the reasons we contacted the Dark Makers in the first place. They were, after all, previously Precursors and the combination of both technologies should be enough to open the silos."

Jak turned around "The silo... that kind of lacks originality doesn't it. It sounds exactly like your last plan. Well you'll never succeed. You don't have what it takes to beat me, even with the powers from the silo, you saw it back there, I pulverised you. You're lucky I didn't kill you. I am only surprised that you made such a quick recovery"

Gol far from being enraged simply smiled "Indeed. My powers of recovery from the silo sped up my healing considerably. But this time you won't be able to stop us, I guarantee, the only people who will die will be you... and the whole world of course. I am surprised actually; you managed to escape the Dark Makers but could only do so with your friends. Clearly I underestimated you but I am afraid it is far too late; our plan is already in motion. Even as we speak my forces are readying to teleport my wondrous robot to another location, and I think I will give you a taste of what awaits this condemned planet."

As he spoke he gazed upwards and Jak followed his gaze, he saw more ships arriving and bombarding the shield surrounding the robot. Their efforts were in vain for despite the heavy damage it was taking the shield simply absorbed the bombardment. Gol lowered his gaze back to Jak "Ignorant fools; your friends will hardly cause a dent. You were the bait and your friends were only too eager to walk into our trap and now that we have you and your friends here none of you will leave alive."

"Oh yeah? And why's that?" Jak replied hoping to find out what insane scheme Gol was planning. Gol smirked as he read the thought straight from Jak's mind

"You can't trick me Jak." Gol sneered "Your mind simply doesn't have the capablilities to shield your thoughts from our powers, it's to feeble." Jak clenched his hands as he reined in his anger but he ignored the jibe "However seeing as you did so well against the Dark Makers and have endured so much at our hands, I will humour you. You see we knew that your friends would come to your rescue, after all the Dark Makers, Erol and Veger have told us how valuable you are to the existence of this miserable planet. But putting that aside let me talk about our research. Within this laboratory we have been researching the nature of light and dark eco and its amazing capabilities."

Gol shook his head, almost sad at what he was going to say next "I lost almost all my notes on dark eco since were trapped. So we took over these old Aeropan barracks and started our project anew with research of the Dark Makers and thanks to that buffoon Tym we had everything we needed to continue our research. The equipment, the dark eco and most importantly the research was all here. We started up the equipment and built an army of Lurkers, we infused them with some Dark Maker and Precursor technology and used them to build the compound. This place has not only become a research facility but a factory, built for the mass production of our technologically empowered Lurkers."

"Through our research we learnt that dark and light eco have the potential to do incredible things when absorbed by a living being and if this living being can control the contrasting forces and achieve harmony... they could be one of the greatest forces in the universe. Like also studied the powers of light eco, and like everything light eco has a destructive side. I am sure you felt it, when you absorbed the light eco and destroyed our previous robot; you experienced the destructive capabilities of its incredible discovered that while light and dark eco can co-exist in a living being, similar to the yin-yang, they can also co-exist with results that are most destructive."

An evil grin spread across Gol's face as he spoke "Light eco is creation and dark eco is destruction. When the two forces meet in their raw form, which is to say out of an individual and therefore uncontrolled, they can cause a break in reality itself! The energy will expand and engulf everything within its radius, destroying it, breaking apart the bonds of the atoms and obliterating the particles themselves until nothing is left, and I will unleash this catastrophic power upon you and all your friends!You can't defend against it, you can't escape. The devastating power of eco will consume you and I will have gotten rid of one of the Dark Maker's most major threats. Not only will I be greatly rewarded for taking down the Dark Makers's greatest foes but I will have rid Haven City of their most important leader leaving Haven City defenseless. Aeropa is in shambles in case you didn't know. Their attempts to reform their society was interrupted by the sudden attack by our forces. After get crushing Haven City I can move onto Kras City and crush it as well. I am certain the Dark Makers will reward me greatly after I not only destroy everything on this planet but crush you as well. "

Gol blinked once and his eyes flashed a dark purple. "Excellent!" he gasped "It is time, the teleporter is ready. Soon our main military forces and the robot will be transported. As for the rest of the Lurkers... they are unnecessary and they will die along with you." He looked at Jak and for the first time Jak saw through the evil on the surface, he saw nothing but pure, undiluted hatred and a dark malevolent glee at the doom about to befall on him as well as the insanity that had taken hold of Gol centuries before. "Goodbye Jak, it wasn't a pleasure knowing you." With those final words dark mist leaked out of his skin and curled around his body, when it had dissipated, he was gone. Jak looked back at the robot as he heard the hum of machinery. As the noise reached a peak a dark eco cloud gathered round the robot and when it had fully enveloped the robot, it dispersed and the small tendrils of smoke rose through the hole in the ceiling, the robot was gone. The ships stopped firing and seemed confused as to where the robot had gone.

A ship bigger than the others detached itself from the fleet intent on destroying the room and floated down next to Jak. As it opened up a streak of orange filled Jak's vision as Daxter jumped on to his head with a loud "JAAAKKK!". Jak pulled the relieved Daxter off his head saying "Hey Dax, good to see you!" He looked and saw another familiar figure, Ashelin hopped out of her ship and strode up to him, she looked almost as relieved as Jak felt to see him alive.

"Jak thank the Precursors your still alive, you have no idea how bad things have got." Ashelin said.

"Thanks good to see you to Ashelin but you'll need to fill me in on the bad stuff later. I just met Gol and we really need to go, there is some sort of eco bomb in the laboratory and if we don't get out... well how do you feel about having the bonds of your atoms broken and each individual atom your body scattered?"

Ashelin smiled grimly "Point taken, we don't have time to chat" she hopped inside the vehicle and settled at the controls "Come on get in" she said to Jak. As he jumped inside with Daxter on his shoulder she flipped a switch and spoke to the rest of the fleet "This is Ashelin, there is a bomb set within the compound we must clear the area immediately." She flipped the switch and she lifted the ship up into the air with the rest of fleet following her. Jak looked out as the ship rose at the hateful laboratory where Gol and Maia had sadistically tortured him. A part of him didn't care about what the demented duo were planning; he just wanted them dead for how they had tormented him. Well it didn't matter now, he said to himself, soon that laboratory would be nothing but a memory. When he got back to headquarters he would devote his time to tracking down those two insane twins and ridding the world of them once and for all. He needed to ensure that those two paid for what they had done to him.


	11. Vengeful Return: Chapter 10

Vengeful Return Chapter 11: Ripping Reality

Dark mist appeared out of thin air and collected before the dark figure of Gol emerged from within and the dark mist sank within his body. The robot had been transported and as he floated over the screens confirmed that it had arrived safely at its destination. He saw Jak's rescuers rise into the air and gestured to one of the Lurkers, signalling them to activate the defence systems and hold them in place "They cannot be allowed to leave alive." he said. He turned to a table and waved, and the air above the table shimmered. Suddenly a 3D holographic image of his sister appeared who looked at him quizzically. "Almost everything is sorted on my end" he said to the hologram "My part of the robot has been transferred to Aeropa. We simply need to hold them in place; the explosion will most certainly kill them and all evidence of our plans will be obliterated."

Jak dwelled on what Gol had said _"...and I think I will give you a taste of what awaits this condemned planet."_ What had he meant by that? Gol had made it clear that his plan was to open the silos but he wouldn't need to combine light and dark eco to destroy the people of this planet. Merely opening the silos would unleash enough dark eco to flood the world. If they weren't planning to flood the world with dark eco then what was their plan? Jak was interrupted from his musings as a detonation caught one of the nearby ships and it exploded with a flash of dark purple.

More explosions caught other ships and as Jak looked out the window a shocked lo He turned to Ashelin "They have defences! I thought you would have dealt with them already."

Ashelin shook her head, she seemed to be scolding herself mentally "We did encounter defences but they were weak, I should have realised it was a setup. We got to you way too easily, they must have set up defences knowing that we would come and rescue you. Look!" she said pointing out as a beam of dark eco shot out hitting one of the adjacent ships, instead of an explosion the ship stopped within midair, the dark eco beam holding it in place. "Dammit!" Ashelin said angrily "They mean to keep us here so we can get caught in the blast! Well I'm not going to sit here like a duck and get blown to pieces!" She began to go through evasive manoeuvres and the ship duck and wove around beams and bolts of dark eco.

Daxter looked out and saw fleets of aircrafts flying towards them he gulped "Umm guys..." he said pointing out the window. As the fleet sped on flying as fast as possible a hum could be heard in the air and a dark eco shield rose around the base. A look of shock crossed their faces before Ashelin pulled them out, barely escaping from colliding directly with the shield. Looking at the fleet they watched as a few unlucky planes crashed into the shield and exploded. As they watched the shield rose higher and higher before arching overhead, forming a dome and preventing escape.

"A bit dangerous don't you think?" Maia asked in consternation as the shield rose to trap the escaping heroes. "What if they don't find a way to make it out before the bomb explodes? Our plan cannot succeed without him!"

Gol spoke "I have no doubt that Jak can escape our trap. The boy is more resourceful then we anticipated. He has proven himself to be powerful and observant. I have no doubt he will escape and our plan will continue as expected. We have already underestimated him once; we should not do so again, dear sister. Anyway this will make it all the more believable; we cannot have the boy thinking that we let him go to easily, lest he suspect that we are manipulating him. Once he knows or suspects he is being manipulated, our whole plan will fall apart." Maia, despite the reassurance, looked dissatisfied

"Still it is an unnecessary risk but no matter, if he dies then **you** will be held responsible and we will simply have to go with plan B. Anyway I am just about to leave Brink Island; we have all the research we need from here. I will meet you at Aeropa." With those final words the hologram froze and the image shattered like glass. Gol closed his eyes for a moment then the dark vapour leaked out of his skin and Gol vanished within the billowing smoke.

Three of Gol's ships were after them, trailing their every move and despite the complex series of evasive manoeuvres that Ashelin tried the machine's controlling the ships had faster reflexes, dodging every stray blast, evading every shot that Ashelin fired to get rid of them and all the while trailing them and slowly narrowing the gap between them. They began to fire off blasts and despite the attempts to avoid the gunfire the wings took minor damage and the ship jolted sickeningly in the air. Daxter put a hand to his mouth and puffed his cheeks as if he were about to regurgitate the contents of his stomach.

One of the ships was now riding alongside Jak and as they watched, the ship opened to reveal a different type of Lurker. They had purple bloated bodies with white mouths and sharp fangs protruding, claws could be seen at the end of the arms and feet. These had wings not dissimilar to a bat's however they appeared to be enhanced with Precursor and Dark Maker cybernetics. The three Lurkers stood in their ship for a moment and then, in unison, jumped. They unfurled their wings and as the wind blew under their wings they flapped them to keep themselves in the air.

They blew out their cheeks and their light purple bodies took on a darker shade of colour. Then they focused on the ship and, with what seemed like contempt spat a ball of dark eco at the escaping heroes. Two of the dark projectiles missed as the ship rolled to avoid them but one of the balls of dark eco made contact and as it did so it exploded, leaving a stain of dark eco which began to eat away at the metal.

Despite the situation Jak could not help but be surprised that the Lurkers were still attempting to stop them from escaping. Despite Gol's blatant disregard for the lives of his servants they were still willing to carry out his orders and prevent Jak's escape. But perhaps it wasn't loyalty, he mused, perhaps they just don't know any better. Looking at the damage done Jak saw that the dark eco from the last projectile had done considerable damage to the ship. Left unattended it would probably eat through the entire ship and bring them crashing down.

The Winged Lurkers readied another blast and while two of them had returned back to their normal colour one had not. As they fired the next round of shots Jak noticed that the darker Winged Lurker spat bigger projectiles and as the shade of purple got darker his shots became more powerful. Jak knew that something like that wasn't good news and his suspicions were confirmed when the darker Winged Lurker flew straight at the ship. Jak tried to avoid colliding with it but it was faster and more suited for aerial manoeuvres. Desperately Jak swung the ship away from the Lurker saving them from the large blast as the Lurker detonated in mid-air but not from the small darts of dark eco which sped away from the explosion, splattering the ship with dark eco. Daxter crawled outside to try and stop the dark eco from damaging the ship and began to work on repairs, despite the Winged Lurkers and the three ships still firing off shots.

"There!" shouted Jak as he caught sight of the last of the shield generators and, after a series of complex manoeuvres, Ashelin flew away from the burning generators with only a bit of minor damage to the hull. The shield flickered and eventually shut off leaving the pathway unblocked for the Ashelin's fleet. With a jubilant cry from each of the ships the ragged remains of the fleet flew out of range of the laboratory's defences with the trailing ships and Winged Lurkers being left behind.

Just in time it seemed for deep within the laboratory the final seconds elapsed and the light and dark eco made contact. In an explosion of both light and darkness a sphere of energy expanded in all directions. It was transparent yet clearly visible, an energy that made the air itself shimmer and light bend and refract. Everything within it was distorted and as they watched whatever it touched simply ceased to exist, disappeared as if it never existed. The sphere began gathering speed as it grew larger and Ashelin's fleet simply stared, mouths agape, as the energy rushed towards them. Jak imagined that he could sense Gol's evil malevolence driving the wall of energy towards them, and then the unthinkable happened.

The relentless advance of the wall of energy froze, as if bound by some omnipotent deity's will, the energy seemed to hit a wall. The crushing energy could go no further and as they watched, the energy inside pushed outwards, as if reaching to escape and devour them all. But the force holding it in check could not be denied and the wall of energy froze and solidified, as it accepting this fact. A perfect sphere that hung in the sky, and gazing through it one would see the sky distorted, the light itself bent and twisted. The energy seemed to turn the surroundings both dark and bright, dazzling light, more blinding then the sun shone down and yet the deepest darkness engulfed them all, choking them with its oppressiveness.

Then the light faded away and the darkness dissipated, and as they watched the globe shattered like glass. Shards of crystal-like energy rained down, falling into the ocean whilst other shards simply hung in the air floating as if gravity no longer applied. The pure energy within the globe collapsed in on itself and exploded with awful finality. For a second there was simply silence... and then it hit.

The concussion was deep and hollow, feeling benevolent yet wicked, vindictive yet kind. Nevertheless the power was inescapable, it pushed hard against them, crushing the breath out of the soldiers; the reverberations could be felt by the violent shaking of the aircraft. Glass shattered, the wind screamed like a banshee and buffeted the fleet as it swirled, sucking water from the sea, even the clouds were drawn towards the point of light and darkness. As the last of the reverberations died down, the fleet gazed in wonder at the sight before them.

A globe of pure energy sat, no doubt, exactly where the light and dark had first made contact. It glowed with an eerie aura, seeming malevolent yet benign, natural yet profane. Rotating around this globule were two globes, one was formed of pure light and the other made out of pure darkness. Streaks of energy, both light and dark, could be seen emanating from the globes, looking unnervingly like lightning. The air shimmered, looking like a heat haze, some of the water had frozen into ice, before changing impossibly into lava and then changing again, looking strangely like tree sap. The clouds were sucked towards the rotating globes and the sea reached upwards, as if it too was reaching towards the globes. The laboratory had been completely obliterated and one could see strange creatures lurking beneath the waters where the light and dark shards had flown into the ocean. Despite the awesome power of all this Jak could not help but notice that the area being affected was roughly where the globe had hung. Directly outside that area the sea swished serenely and the clouds floated overhead, the picture was the embodiment of tranquillity.

Even more strange then this was the continual opening and closing of what looked like portals. Openings tore themselves open sporadically and as Jak looked within them he saw impossible scenes. One portal showed a crowd of Precursors hurrying around some sort of robot before it closed up again. Another showed Jak himself confronting Baron Praxis in Mar's Tomb when he had attempted to extract the Precursor Stone. Another depicted him riding the boat towards Misty Island, when he was just a young boy of fifteen. He was so entranced by these visions that he failed to notice something small, orange and fuzzy was hitting him with increasing speed and force and calling his name with rising volume.

"JAK! JAK! Listen to me Jak! We need to get out of here!" Daxter yelled as he attempted to wake Jak from his trance. "JAK!"

"Yes, I hear you Daxter!" said Jak, slightly annoyed by his small friend. He looked over towards Ashelin, who still looked shell-shocked "Come on" he said to her before taking a final look towards the stunning sight "Pull yourself together. We need to get out of here."


	12. Vengeful Return: Chapter 11

_Hi everyone. First of all I want to apologise for leaving this story for so long. I would like to have a good excuse but I don't, I'm just lazy. So here is the latest chapter and I'm going to try and finish this story this year (which may sound unambitious but I did leave this story for 2 years so..). Now I would like to thank everyone who still has this on their favorite stories list even if you forgot it was still there and I would like to send a special thank you to Stetson and Fedora 1103 who wrote a very nice review and inspired me to finish this story despite by laziness, thank you Stetson and Fedora._

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Vengeful Return Chapter 12: Recent Developments

Jak was there watching Gol and Maia's malicious faces laugh as he was tortured, the devices closing in; images were jumbled in his mind as he saw, beside the demented siblings, the mutilated corpses of his friends. He awoke with a cry of anguish and rage, the sound of which was distorted by the surrounding liquid. He was not, as his dream had told him, being tortured by Gol and Maia but rather floating gently in a tank. Filled with green eco it gently glowed with green light, the light then reflected off the metal surfaces around it and gave the room an eerie green look, as though it was deep within the ocean. He gazed over his body and saw the various scars, reminders of the torture he had suffered at the hands of Gol and Maia, heal over, the last patches of skin began to re-grow, and the pain from the last vestiges of the infecting eco disappeared. The eco Gol and Maia had used to infect Jak's body had caused the most pain of all yet, conversely, it gave him the greatest relief as this pain vanished from his body.

Jak had just wrapped a towel around his mid-section when Samos, followed by, what looked like, an army of doctors entered the room. Several immediately rushed over to the various machinery located around the laboratory and began to study it. Others studied Jak critically to assess how sufficient the healing had been. The green eco tank, which Jak had been placed in, was a relatively new technology, which had been built during the shortage of eco. The patient lay horizontally in the machine which was then filled with green eco. This was carefully controlled to expose the patient to the healing properties of the eco but still ensure that only minimal green eco was used up in the healing process. Rather than consume the eco the patient lay within this gel, floating gently while sleeping. Jak was one of the first to test it and therefore the doctors and scientists were not only interested in his wellbeing but were also examining how effective the treatment had been.

Jak felt great, the pain which had begun to plague him before arriving had vanished and the injuries he had obtained were but a fading memory. Ignoring the various people around him he got dressed and walked to the exit, a path forming as the doctors and scientists moved out of Jak's way.

* * *

Far away, within the crumbling city of Aeropa, lurkers roamed the streets weapons at the ready. They had come only a few weeks before, an army of lurkers armed with eco weapons and Gol and Maia floating above their troops, watching with satisfaction as the few who tried to resist the incursion were felled and stomped on. With little leadership and the former army humbled Gol and Maia's army of lurkers had easily taken control of the city. Within hours of the invasion the once proud people of Aeropa had become slaves to the siblings.

Maia watched as the last of the dark eco was taken from the city and transferred to her robot. That, of course, was the reason they had come. Aeropa was literally a vast pool of dark eco, a well of enormous power just waiting to be tapped, for the eco requirements of her robot were exponential. After her robot's hunger for dark eco was at last sated she directed her lurkers as they incorporated into the mechanical behemoth the additional technology necessary to complete their plan. At last satisfied that everything was in order a cloud of dark smoke engulfed her and she was gone.

Standing in front of a large portal which crackled with dark energy Gol had his head bowed, a gesture of subservience, as he spoke with reverence to the Dark Makers. "The plan is coming together however there is one item we have yet to obtain. Without it we cannot hope to control that much dark eco at once." Gol paused as the barely audible reply came from the portal which quickly shut down leaving Gol looking unsatisfied.

* * *

Jak marvelled at the wonders of eco as he headed to the meeting room, the green eco had worked miraculously and he felt great, notwithstanding the painful memory of his torture. Even as he thought of the injustice at the hands of Gol and Maia the dark eco within him stirred and he vowed that they would pay for what they did to him.

As the doors slid open with a hiss he was greeted by his friends, who were as delighted to see him as he was of them. Daxter, who had disappeared momentarily, jumped up onto Jak's shoulder, telling him how good it was to see him alive and loudly proclaiming his part in rescuing Jak, saying "You need me buddy, if I hadn't got help they would've killed you...". Nobody stopped him, mostly because they knew he was right.

After Daxter finally shut up they turned their attention to the hologram board and after a moment a hologram appeared, Jak recognised Aeropa but frowned as he noticed how the image was at a great distance and the hologram tended to flicker or blur slightly. "Aeropa," said Sig "we didn't have much to do with it until you made contact with them but we had some contact, recently we have been noticing some odd behaviour. This was the best image we could get mainly because of a new development there. The revolution there took its toll on the military forces and the lack of leadership has left the city... destabilised."

Ashelin intercepted "What Sig is trying to say is that the city is, or was, in shambles. They had no leadership; their army had tampered with dark eco and was decimated in the revolution. The loss of leadership left a power vacuum and the place practically descended into anarchy but last we heard they were rebuilding. But suddenly, with no warning, we lost all contact with them. Their city is in lockdown; our ships can't even get close due to the presence of their air force. Communication has been shut off and we can't figure out why."

"My guess is that they didn't trust us," said Jak bluntly "who wants some other city to interfere with how things were run? No doubt they're sorting themselves out and getting back on track."

"But that's the problem" said Sig "they aren't getting back on track. We sent a few ships to monitor the situation a few weeks ago and they never returned. I'm guessing that some faction must have taken control of the city and is trying to go to war with us and Kras City."

Jak frowned at this "Wait backtrack a bit who said anything about war? And how could Aeropa attack both us and Kras City? It's suicide."

"A few hours ago we received a transmission from a Aeropean soldier claiming that his leaders had gone mad and were preparing to attack us," said Sig "we also got a transmission from Kras City saying that they had received the same message albeit from a different soldier. It's very confusing and exactly what we don't need with Gol and Maia causing havoc. We are going to need to divide and conquer, so someone needs to stay here and manage Haven."

Ashelin made to speak and Jak could already tell she wanted to help secure Haven. As its leader she felt responsible for its safety, before she could voice this Samos interrupted her "I'll handle Haven." He looked at Ashelin with a knowing look saying "What you should go and do is find out what is happening at Kras City. You could be our ambassador, an emissary. We may be able to get help from Kras City, it would be much better to fight together rather than allowing this battle to escalate into an outright war."

Sig frowned but didn't argue "Ok, I'm going to contact Spargus and see if they can shed any light on this situation. Now Jak you need to deal with Gol and Maia, find a way to stop whatever it is they're planning. We will put every available resource at your disposal so find them and stop them. Any help you need we will try to provide but this war is going to take up a lot of time and resources. What happened at the laboratory concerns me, if they have weapons that can cause destruction on that sort of scale we could be in serious trouble. Keira you should stay with Samos. Right lets go everyone!" As everyone started moving Jak caught up with Sig.

"Where's Torn?" He asked quietly as he walked alongside the grim-looking Sig.

Sig expression showed concern "We don't know, we've been looking everywhere but no one has seen him. There's no record of him leaving and I can't believe he would go at a time like this so my guess is that he was captured but as to who and how... that's anyone's guess. He's our best commander and with him gone the task of handling Haven rests with Samos. If someone took him that means we have a spy, I always thought we would have one but Torn's disappearance means a deeper penetration of our security. Nobody but high level officers were allowed to meet him and it also raises the question of how they were able to take him out without us knowing. There's a lot of mystery surrounding his disappearance."

Jak frowned "Mystery? Isn't it as simple as Gol or Maia teleporting in and overpowering him?"

Sig shook his head "No. Torn had a bodyguard with him at all times and Samos helped our scientists set up some safeguards to prevent teleportation in or out. If he left it can't be by teleportation. With Torn missing things are even more problematic especially with this war with Aeropa." A strange look crossed Sig's face "This attack can't have come at a worse time and Aeropa shouldn't even really have an army after what happened there."

Jak made a noise of agreement "This has got to have something to do with Gol and Maia, the timing is too coincidental to be anything else and Aeropa has a lot of dark eco. The question is _why_ attack?"

"Who knows?" Sig said "Right now we just have to deal with it and you have to find out what Gol and Maia are doing and stop them."

Jak sighed and nodded. His face twisting with rage as Sig turned a corner and disappeared from sight. Ever since his capture and torment his dark side had grown, fuelling his anger, while the light inside of him had diminished. He knew that he had to find Gol and Maia soon, the fury that he felt inside was close to spilling out of him. The facade that he had projected, that of stability and calm, was cracking and the anger inside him, at Gol and Maia, hadn't abated. It had only grown stronger as he thought about what they had done. Torturing him, abducting Torn, threatening Haven and the world with destruction, but Jak knew it was only a matter of time before he found them again. "And then" he thought as he suppressed his anger "I'll show them how angry I can really be."


	13. Vengeful Return: Chapter 12

_Hey everyone. Here's a short chapter for you all to munch on. Going to be a bit of dialogue for a few chapters just so Jak can interact with a few people and decide what to do.  
_

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Vengeful Return Chapter 13: A Quick Chat

Gol floated gently above the ground bowing his head respectfully as the dark presence manifested itself before him. The Dark Makers rarely made a personal appearance but the manifestation that appeared before the twisted sage was even more menacing, a formless, malevolent shadow that drew in all light and covered the dimly light room with darkness. The shadows of the room deepened until the depth was incalculable and Gol shuddered, the shadow's mere presence called upon the darkest nature of the soul, threatening to overwhelm Gol and drive him beyond insanity.

Resisting the overwhelming malice emanating from the shadow Gol spoke and held out his hands, as if expecting something. The dark presence within the shadow did nothing but the air hummed with power. Gol noted how different this Dark Maker was to the others he had encountered; whilst their power had been flashy and ostentatious, the power wielded by this twisted creature was restrained, almost subtle. Slowly the darkness within the room began to coalesce until a box appeared in Gol's hands. It was bronze and smooth with Precursor markings etched into, certainly the work of Precursor technology. Gol gazed upon the box, wonderment and glee crossing his face as the dark presence withdrew and the shadow melted into the darkness.

Jak watched as Samos crossed the room, a look of disapproval on his face as he looked around the Naughty Ottsel with distaste. Jak had been at the bar for almost two hours now knowing that, after the hell that Gol and Maia had put him through, he wouldn't be fully recovered until after he'd had a drink. And so he had had five very large ones, only feeling healed after the last giant-sized cup. A feeling that had lasted until he had tried to stand up and discovered that when the room started spinning it was best to sit down immediately or risk displaying to the world the insides of his stomach. But even as drunk as he was Jak's mind was still (relatively) clear, so he had contacted Samos and told him to meet him down at the bar so they could discuss what Jak had seen.

Samos took the seat beside Jak saying "Why in the name of the Precursors did you want to talk here? It's hardly suitable for what we are discussing."

Jak shook his head "It's fine" he said "talking here is the same as talking in headquarters it just feels safer, we both know we have a spy in our midst with an extremely high position, how else could they have got hold of Torn?" Jak, influenced by the alcohol, could not help but slur the last words.

Samos grunted and the same look of disapproval crossed his face again "You're drunk" he said contemptibly "or at least you've been drinking, still you seem to be functioning well enough. You're right, we do have a spy but that's not what I came here to talk about so what is it?"

"I need to know what you think happened back at the lab, what was that explosion?" asked Jak "Can they replicate it?"

"Well" said Samos musingly "It's hard to know for sure what happened based on your description but I would say it's some sort of eco explosion but I've never heard of eco being able to do that before. What happened is simply unprecedented but it does display the characteristics of the effects of dark eco. It twisted things like the water, turning it into lava, which is similar to the effects that dark eco has on things" Samos gestured to Daxter passed out at the bar "but these 'portals' you talked about... "

"So you have no idea what happened then." Jak said bluntly. Samos bristled at that, Jak could see mind working feverishly to figure out what happened.

"My guess is that Gol and Maia did something to the dark eco to make it more destructive, what you need to do is find someone who knows more about dark eco then I do, I'm the green eco sage not an expert on dark eco."

"Well the sage of dark eco wants to kill me so I don't think talking to him about what happened is really an option." Jak said "Don't you know anyone who might know something about what happened?"

"Well..." Samos said thinking hard "There's a scholar, Horace is his name, who lives in Kras City. He has an obsession with Precursor artefacts and eco. He has books on this sort of thing but he doesn't know much about eco himself. I would also suggest talking to Onin she might be able to help."

"I intend to talk to Onin" Jak said "but I'll also go see this Horace guy, if he has information we need it. Why does he live in Kras City if he's a scholar?"

"What better place to buy artefacts and books then the black market in Kras City? Besides he's a bit of a criminal so you might have to give him something to get what he knows. Now I suggest you get going you've got a line of people waiting to talk to you back at headquarters and don't let the orange furball blab about what's going on, we don't need another crisis just because he can't keep quiet." With that Samos got up and left making sure to smack Daxter on the head as he went past to wake him up.

Daxter stirred drowsily and rubbed his head "What's going on?" he asked.

"C'mon" said Jak "we've got to head back to HQ, seems like a few people want to talk to me and I need to get to Kras City."


End file.
